road-runner wrote:
John & Angela wrote:
I agree that you have to go into it knowing all the facts. But it’s not like the HVAC energy consumption is being hidden. The cars display clearly indicates the expected range with and without the climate control enabled...simultaneously. At least in our experience, the numbers displayed are reasonably close. I think depending on how/where you drive effects how close the estimates are.
JMHO.
John.
Where I think the hvac consumption is hidden is in the "equivalent" mpg figures that are published, with the intent of making an electric car look as low cost and/or environmentally friendly as possible. Best case numbers. My own opinion is that electric cars have their place for some users. I could see myself using one for the common 30 to 50 mile total trips. Intuitively, I think the overall best compromise is a plug-in hybrid with a small internal combustion engine. When the electricity is available it could be run totally on electric for short trips. For a long and/or cold climate trip the IC engine would be the primary power source, with the electric motor(s) giving the wimpy IC engine an assist for acceleration and hill climbing. The IC engine would have to be large enough to push the vehicle at highway speeds on level ground, with some reserve to charge the battery at least a little bit.
To be honest I’m not sure what criteria EPA uses for determining range. With regular use we are close to what epa says. BUT I know our speed is lower than what some commuters do. It’s just that the speed limits we deal with are lower in our valley than what straight interstate driving would be. Speed effects range in a serious way. We burn thru our batteries a lot faster at 120-130 Km per hour than we do at 100 Km per hour.
